MWW is the state's largest public relations and lobbying company. MWW worked for the state to develop the post Hurricane Sandy "Stronger than the Storm" ad campaign to promote Jersey Shore tourism as the region rebuilt.

@NJTRANSIT on the 7:51 Train: 6616 and you don't even let us know why we were stopped for so long. I want a divorce! There's no communication with you ever! How do you expect this relationship to last without it? My mother was right about you! You are a loser.

Riders criticize alerts for timeliness and detail, especially in the wake of incidents such as a minor derailment in Penn Station New York earlier this month. Commuters also fume over getting alerts about canceled, delayed and broken down trains too late to use other options to get to work or home. Crisis communications also is one of MWW's specialities, according to its website.

NJ Transit has taken several steps to start addressing some known issues ahead of the audit, such as getting information faster from rail operations to employees sending alerts to riders, said Kevin Corbett, executive director.

"Whether this contract with MWW is redundant, depends on the scope of the work MWW is performing," said Nick Sifuentes, Tri-State Transportation Campaign Executive Director. "The more important signal here is that customer communications is important to NJ Transit."

But NJ Transit has to make improvements quickly after MWW makes recommendations, he said.

"The agency must develop in-house capacity to get communications with riders right, after this six-month review," he said.

What does NJ Transit get for $250,000? The agency gets a "full analysis" of the existing communications structure to "improve the effectiveness, timeliness, consistence and quality of customer communication," Snyder said.

MWW also will develop a "comprehensive communication strategy for internal and external communications," she said.

MWW also will help NJ Transit determine what are the industry standards for communications and how to get more timely, relevant information to commuters, officials said. The company also will retool how NJ Transit markets itself and portrays itself externally, officials said.

That's great you want to listen. However you do NOTHING, after listening. You go about your merry way thinking that this is the greatest transit system in the US. If you're going to listen, then for the love of god do something with the feedback.

Democrats criticized Christie, a Republican, for appearing in those 2013 ads during his re-election bid, saying it unfairly gives him more media exposure. The ads were part of a $25 million state tourism campaign funded with federal disaster money.